Thankful for a Friend

It being the Thankful time of year I want to start focusing everyday on something I am thankful for that has changed my life. One of the amazing blessings I had going on the USNS was meeting my friend Angie. This girl is amazing. After everything she has been through she still knows who she is. Every time I talk to this girl, who is NOT well into her 30s, she cheers me up. I leave feeling excited and ready to tackle life again. Her excitement is contagious. She has helped me to accept and understand things in my life I have been struggling with. She's real and not afraid to do what makes her happy. Though I hardly get to see her anymore we still can joke about all the stupid inside things we have. Angie thanks for being my friend, you're one of the best friends I could have!!



So in following her advice here us my plan to help my life feel richer in the next year:

1. Travel to Maui and spend a week on the beach!
2. Learn Spanish and be able to communicate to my patients
3. Pick up my violin again and Learn a new concerto
4. Pass my CEN with flying colors
5. Read a new book every week!
   
   
6. Learn to take pictures on my Nikon Manually
   
   
7. Set up my craft room and let the creative juices flow again!
8. Decorate my house with my taste alone!
   
   
9. Spend more time with my friends outside my crazy work schedule.
10. Go Through the Temple on my 25th birthday
    
    
11. Get my butt in gear and get my weight down to 115lbs with HEALTHY eating habits.

Finding satisfaction, meaning, and happiness in life may require singles to first confront their sense of loss and then learn to live more peacefully with “what is,” neither ignoring nor overemphasizing the future. They may then begin to reshape their idea of a successful life, develop a flexible support network of family and friends, and learn new life skills. Accepting rather than resisting current singleness allows a focus on what one can learn—not just what one might lose—by being single.

Success also includes being courageous and faithful in the face of loneliness and uncertainty, though it may not be the success singles most want. Progress is any movement toward peaceful acceptance of whatever the future may hold. Working on things we can change, whether in personal or professional life, rather than concentrating and obsessing about those we can’t, builds self-worth and fosters hope.

In day-to-day living we can also remind ourselves of all that is good in our lives amid that which is difficult. Making time for things we enjoy, maintaining our sense of humor, and cultivating healthy habits of exercise, good nutrition, and adequate sleep promote positive feelings. Additionally, we can replace negative feelings with active efforts to cope, plan, and work on our concerns, interspersed with more passive times of diversion, fun, and relaxation.

“If you are just marking time waiting for a marriage prospect, stop waiting … and start moving. Prepare yourself for life—even a single life—by education, experience, and planning. Don’t wait for happiness to be thrust upon you. Seek it out in service and learning. Make a life for yourself. And trust in the Lord. Follow King Benjamin’s advice to call ‘on the name of the Lord daily, and [stand] steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come’ (Mosiah 4:11).”

Elder Dallin H Oaks